It would essentially just be the AHL in NHL buildings. Which might not be a bad idea if this thing drags on. Most of the AHL schedule is played all on weekends, at least in Charlotte, so a Saturday afternoon game at Consol for WBS giving the ticket holders first access to the best seats might work, then fill out the building with cheap tickets.

DelPen wrote:It would essentially just be the AHL in NHL buildings. Which might not be a bad idea if this thing drags on. Most of the AHL schedule is played all on weekends, at least in Charlotte, so a Saturday afternoon game at Consol for WBS giving the ticket holders first access to the best seats might work, then fill out the building with cheap tickets.

Might work a bit locally, but you have to be careful not to alienate AHL regulars and season ticket holders. Expecting WBS season ticket holders to travel (5?) hours to see their team play on the other side of the state is a no-win proposition...AHL ticket holders shall not be punished on account of the NHL's mismanagement...

NHLers going to Europe are taking jobs from less skilled players over there. NHL owners need to capitalize on these disgruntled European players. Invite them over as replacement players, or at least bring them over for some form of competition in NHL arenas. Invite fans to attend games at severely reduced prices, and many fans, especially those who support the owners, would do so. If there is no settlement this season, these players could form the basis of a new and reorganized NHL next season. To hell with the current players and their blanking union and their blanking union chief who ruined baseball in Pittsburgh, Montreal, and other cities!

Bathgate wrote:NHLers going to Europe are taking jobs from less skilled players over there. NHL owners need to capitalize on these disgruntled European players. Invite them over as replacement players, or at least bring them over for some form of competition in NHL arenas. Invite fans to attend games at severely reduced prices, and many fans, especially those who support the owners, would do so. If there is no settlement this season, these players could form the basis of a new and reorganized NHL next season. To hell with the current players and their blanking union and their blanking union chief who ruined baseball in Pittsburgh, Montreal, and other cities!

Given rules on imports in each individual league (some leagues allowing no more than 2 non-EU players, some no more than 3 players from the host nation, some requiring X homegrown players under the age of 21 to dress, some requiring at least 11 players be deemed "homegrown", etc.), there aren't excessive amount of players being put out of work over there. And the ones that are actually out of luck (that aren't young, who don't need developmental time in the junior leagues over there: J20 SuperElit, MHL, etc. and who didn't come in via the CHL Import Draft) are out of luck because they aren't very good. And I don't think we're comprehending how not very good they are. No one would want to see them. The cost of operating an NHL arena would likely swallow up any revenue generated (if any) from putting such a poor product out there. Not an option.

Honestly, the thread should be just done away because it was a result of boredom and, well, whatever else...it just breeds nonsense unnecessarily...

Bathgate wrote:NHLers going to Europe are taking jobs from less skilled players over there. NHL owners need to capitalize on these disgruntled European players. Invite them over as replacement players, or at least bring them over for some form of competition in NHL arenas. Invite fans to attend games at severely reduced prices, and many fans, especially those who support the owners, would do so. If there is no settlement this season, these players could form the basis of a new and reorganized NHL next season. To hell with the current players and their blanking union and their blanking union chief who ruined baseball in Pittsburgh, Montreal, and other cities!

Given rules on imports in each individual league (some leagues allowing no more than 2 non-EU players, some no more than 3 players from the host nation, some requiring X homegrown players under the age of 21 to dress, some requiring at least 11 players be deemed "homegrown", etc.), there aren't excessive amount of players being put out of work over there. And the ones that are actually out of luck (that aren't young, who don't need developmental time in the junior leagues over there: J20 SuperElit, MHL, etc. and who didn't come in via the CHL Import Draft) are out of luck because they aren't very good. And I don't think we're comprehending how not very good they are. No one would want to see them. The cost of operating an NHL arena would likely swallow up any revenue generated (if any) from putting such a poor product out there. Not an option.

Honestly, the thread should be just done away because it was a result of boredom and, well, whatever else...it just breeds nonsense unnecessarily...

I agree the obstacles are many, but I rather imagine the owners have or will be discussing replacement players to put pressure in the union. 27 of 30 teams are losing money as is, so they might not lose a lot more with replacement players. Not every NHL team would have to place a team in the NHL-B League.

That 27 number isn't accurate. And they couldn't make more with replacement players because they'd be below AHL-quality, but with NHL-related overhead costs...arena expenses, ice preparation, travel, accomodations, coaches are not locked out, equipment and jerseys, etc. just for 15 games of something that no one wants to see...they could see better hockey for cheaper in the AHL (not to mention it would be at least some players they've actually heard of and will hear of again)...or for Canadians and border staters, junior hockey - which is quality hockey...

mikey287 wrote:That 27 number isn't accurate. And they couldn't make more with replacement players because they'd be below AHL-quality, but with NHL-related overhead costs...arena expenses, ice preparation, travel, accomodations, coaches are not locked out, equipment and jerseys, etc. just for 15 games of something that no one wants to see...they could see better hockey for cheaper in the AHL (not to mention it would be at least some players they've actually heard of and will hear of again)...or for Canadians and border staters, junior hockey - which is quality hockey...

Replacement players is simply not an option. It's just not feasible.

They don't need replacement players, just broadcast rights for the AHL, CHL, NCAA, and KHL. If anyone of those, especially AHL and KHL had a Center Ice option for tv, I'd be all in. Ps. AHL live or whatever it's called is terrible.

AHL Live is not refined because the demand generally isn't there. It's also needlessly expensive at a per-game rate that rivals the price of actual tickets (same for CHL leagues)...can you blame them though? KHL is on ESPN, so whatever that represents...and the AHL Live thing is going to be bad because you can't logically invest too much money in it given your subscriber rate...if I had to guess, there are probably more season ticket holders in the AHL than subscribers to their package...can't say about NHL Center Ice vs. season ticket holders there...

As the line between TV and internet blurs, you'll see an uptick in availability of niche things...or niche-inside-of-niche like the AHL appears to be...until then, you take what you can get...

Bathgate wrote:You can Google "NHL replacement players" and find a slew of articles about the possibility, and where the replacement players might come from.

Ok, well, with all due respect, the onus is not on me to research your side of the discussion. If you'd like to submit some evidence that the replacement thing is feasible, please, be my guest. I did, however, google "NHL replacement players" and the first news story that was returned was "NHL Replacement Players? Don't Make Me Laugh" - I thought that was fitting because that's how I feel. I promptly closed the tab. I'm not searching through fluff pieces dreamt up by yellow journalists that think AHL players would jeopardize their present and future, drafted junior players forgo their chance to ever be a part of the union and unsigned or lower-tier Euros would ditch their home clubs to join what would amount to an MLS-level league for seven and a half weeks of 1500-a-night, 90-percent-empty arenas and further vaporizing of the NHL's momentum on the American sport scene with this obscene prank that would have had all the thoughtfulness of a gas station rose bouquet...

It just doesn't make sense to me as to where you could find these 600-700 players from...

The owners see that it was really the players who won the ’04 lockout and now a second lockout in 8 years is required to make things viable for a majority of them. They saw Fehr flex his muscles and veto their innocuous plan for a simple realignment like Winnipeg moving to the West. They don’t want the employees running the league and taking more revenue than in other sports. They want more control over their huge investment risk. Fehr is playing extreme hardball and refused to negotiate off the owners’ initial proposal. The owners’ frustration level could reach a boiling point soon. That’s when the nuclear option (replacement players) might get discussed seriously. This time I doubt Bettman will stand by and lose another whole season without dabbling in the nuclear option.

I'm not sure that re-alignment is ever an easy issue, per se. It really is a complicated issue that has a ripple effect. It's also politics, sure, but re-arranging any pro sports league isn't easy when you have two countries involved (other sports really don't, by and large) and teams in clusters (northeast, California, etc.). But I mean, I get the lockout, I get what's at stake. But so far, we have a little bit of hot air (not even a lot), just some mild conjecture (maybe just a mere suggestion) that replacement players are a feasible option and I've yet to see that backed with anything either sourced or logic-based, I hate to say it...

I mean, I just don't know the "what" and "how" of this process here...and it's not being articulated in a way that can be processed and digested...granted, it's in a complete "joke" thread...just a pointless click 'n babble, but if it's going to get serious, it would have needed to start already...

Maybe I'm not making myself clear, and honestly, I don't really see a need to pursue this but this part of the board is pretty dead anyway so I'll indulge...